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Photographic 

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23  WEST  MAIN  STREET 

V>'i,r'7fER,N.Y.  14580 

(716)  873-4:.03 


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CIHM/ICMH 

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filmage. 

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par  la  premier  plat  at  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
darnlAre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  la  second 
plat,  salon  la  cgs.  Tous  les  autres  exemplaires 
originaux  sont  filmAs  en  commen^ant  par  la 
premiere  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaitra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  -^  signifie  "A  SUIVRE ',  le 
symbole  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  Atre 
filmis  d  des  taux  de  reduction  diffirents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  il  est  filmi  d  partir 
de  Tangle  sup^rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  h  droite. 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prensnt  le  nombre 
d'images  n^cessaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  mdthode. 


1 

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3 

1 

2 

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S 

6 

A  N  S  AV  E  11 


TO     Tilt 


STIIICTIRES   OF   MK.   THOMAS    FAl.("0>sER 

OF     MNCOJ.N'.S     INN, 

ON 

Tin:   IIISTORV   OF   OliKGDN  AM)  CALIFUKNIA, 
BV    ROHEKT    (JREKNHOW. 


Ln  |)ul)lisliinir  the  second  edition  of  my  I  listory  of  Oregon  ;iinl  CidiCornia, 
I  lliink  it  proper  to  present  some  observations,  in  answer  to  tlie  stric- 
tures on  the  first  edition,  made  by  Mr.  T.  Falconer,  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  in 
his  work  "  On  the  disrorcri/  of  the  Mis^i.-sijipi,  mid  on  the  South-west- 
ern, Oreiron,  and  Norlh-wcslcrn  Boundanj  of  tin:  United  Slates,'"  which 
appeared  in  LoikKmi  in  October,  IN  1  I.  These  strictures  are  sli^litly  noticed 
111  the  preface  to  my  second  edition  ;  l);il  oliserviiig  the  importance  as- 
signed to  them  in  London,  I  have  been  induced  to  answer  them  more  par- 
ticularly here. 

iMr.  I'alcoiier'sbook  is  a  small  duodecimo,  containing  ninety-six  pages  of 
original  matter,  and  as  many  more  of  translations  from  docuinriits  toun  1  by 
him  in  the  Archives  of  the  .Marine  Department  of  France,  relative  to  the  dis- 
covery and  settlement  of  J^ouisiana.  U{  these  documents,  tlic  greater  and 
more  valuable  portion  are  already  well  known  in  the  United  States;*  and 
ji  number  still  greater  of  more  interesting  |)apers,  on  the  same  subject,  from 
the  same  and  other  Archives,  now  lie  in  manuscript  before  nie,  wliich  have 
evidently  escaped  Mr.  Falconer's  researclu's.  i?ut  while  llius  examining  ar- 
chives, and  briiiginir  liidden  (bcuments  to  light,  Mr.  Falconer  has  most 
singularly  neglt.'cted  to  cast  his  ey(>s  over  works  .•hic'i  have  been  lonir  I'e- 
fore  the  workl  :  and  of  this  neglect,  liis  book  is  in  fact  the  fruit  ;  for 
he  has  tiius  been  enabled  to  make  many  discover!'  ■,  new  U)  himself, 
and  to  Imild  on  them  along  series  of  arguments,  wiisdiwant  nothing  but  a 
foundation  of  truth  to  render  t  em  irrefragable.  Some  of  his  principal 
diseovi'ries  of  this  kind  I  will  now  proceed  to  notice  ;  and  they  will  serve  to 
show  how  much  coiilidence  is  to  be  placed  on  his  work,  as  evidence  in 
tlie  important  ipiestions  of  territorial  right,  now  under  discussion  between 
the  IJritish  and  American  governments. 

'I'he  first  thirty-eight   pages  are  devoted   by  Mr.  Falconer  to  ''an  ab- 
stract of  the  events  connected  with  the  discovery,  occupation,  and  settle- 

"  Sec  Spnrks's  Lil'o  ol'Lii  Sullo,  uiid  White's  Ni-w  Uecoiiilufion. 


\ 


"4  ANSWKU. 

mcnt  of  Louisiunn,  iunl  o\'  ils  traiisfi'v  to  flio  liiiitcd  Slates."     Upon  tins 
traiisl'iT,  he  says,  |iag<'  lUi  : — 

"On  October  Isl,  INOO,  Louisiana  was  retroeedod  l)y  Spain  to  France, 
'  witli  tile  same  extent  iliat  it  now  lias  in  tlii'  liands  of  Spain,  and  that  it 
had,  wiien  FiaiRu;  possessed  it,  and  such  as  it  slionid  he  after  tht^  tri'aties 
suhsefiucntly  entered  into  between  Spain  aiid  otliev  States.'  It  was  aii 
act  of  retrocession,  hut  it  transferred  so  inucli  k-ss  tlian  l'"rance  ori<,nnally 
held,  as  had  been  shorn  from  it  by  the  treaty  of  I7().'{,  which  gave  to 
Great  Britain,  tind  tliroui:h  (Jreat  IJritain  to  the  United  Slates,  nearly  the 
entire  eastiM-n  bank  of  the  Mississipjii." 

This  all  eorrecl  ;  now  for  the  transfer  of  Louisiana  to  the  United 
States,  respecting  which,  Mr.  Falconer  lias  made  a  most  notable  discov- 
ery.    Continuing,  he  savs  : — 

"In  iNOo,  France  sold  Louisian;i  lo  the  United  States  for  eleven  mil- 
hons  of  dollars.  The  j)iiicliase  included  all  lands  'on  the  east  [iiiucre 
west]  side  of  the  Mississi|)pi  river,  not  then  belonging  to  the  United 
States,  as  t'ar  as  the  greU  chain  of  mountains  which  divitle  the  waters 
flowing  into  the  Pacific,  ;.nd  those  falling  into  the  Atlantic  ocean  ;  and 
from  the  said  chain  of  mountains  to  the  Pacific  Ocean,  i)etwe(,'n  the  ter- 
ritory claimed  by  Oreat  Hr.cain  on  one  side,  and  by  Spain  on  the  other." 
— {Histonj  of  the  Federal  Government,  bij  Alden  Bradford,  Boston. 
1810.  p.  l.SO.)  No  point  was  mentioned  where  the  line  in  the  chain 
of  mountains  was  to  commence,  nor  where  the  tract  of  lain!  lay,  forming 
a  portion  of  Louisiana,  lying  between  the  territory  claimed  by  Spain  and 
Great  Hritain.  France  had  nothing  to  sell  but  what  constituted  Louisiana 
after  the  cession  made  to  great  Uritain,  in  17();i.  There  was  nt  rertlieless 
inserted  in  this  treaty  of  sale,  a  reference  to  a  perfeethj  undt fined  line  to 
the  racific,  having  no  defined  jxiint  of  commencement,  and  referring  to 
territory  having  no  definable  boundary  on  llie  north,  or  the  south,  or  on 
the  east." 

In  a  note  to  the  passage  quoted  in  this  paracrajjli,  Mr.  Falconer  says: 
— "  Mr.  GreiMiliow,  in  liis  elalxu-ate  work  on  the  Oregon  ([uestion,  has 
omitted  all  notice  of  this  very  important  passage." 

This  note  siirpristMl  nie  not  a  little,  as  I  was  tinablc  to  see  the  iirpor- 
tance  of  a  passage  c<jntaining  merely  a  gratuitous,  and  ccrtaiidy  un- 
founded, opinion  as  to  tlie  limits  of  Louisiana  ;  and  I  couhl  discover  no 
reason  for  which  I  should  have  noticed  it.  But  liow  mucli  greater  was 
my  surprise,  on  finding  that  ]\Ir.  Falconer  had  presented  this  jiassaae  as 
a  st.ipvlation  in  the  inaty  of  Oitoher  1?*0.'{.  That  such  a  mistake  could 
have  b(!en  made  by  a  man  professing  to  instruct  the  world  as  to  "the 
South-western,  ( (regon,  and  IS'orth-westi.'rn  boundaries  of  tlie  United 
States,"  appeared  preposterous :  but  on  examining  farther,  no  doubt  was 
left  that  such  was  his  view,  or  the  view  which  h»;  endeavored  to  imp'ess 
on  others.  In  the  many  [lages  whicli  he  lias  devoted  to  the  consideration 
of  this  point,  with  the  object  of  fixing  upon  the  United  States,  the  stigma 
of  having  procured  the  insertion  in  the  treaty  of  1H08,  of  u  clause,  by 
which  they  might  afterwards,  unrighteously,  lay  claim  to  the  Oregon  ter- 
ritory, he  returns  again  and  again  to  this  important  passage,  —  his  principal 
cheval  de  hataille.  After  relating  the  |)articulars  of  the  Florida  treaty, 
by  which  Spain  ceded  to  tlie  United  Stales  all  her  claims  to  territories  on 


f 


i 


ANSWER.  3 

the  Piicific  siile  of  America,  north  of  tho  forty-second  parallel  of  lati'ude, 
he  says,  (p.  IS,)  "Thus  was  tiic  iinilefinctl  line  from  llic  Kooky  Moun- 
tains to  the  Pacific,  iiiscrtcci  in  tlic;  treaty  wilii  France,  converted  into 
a  defined  line."  Spcakinif  of  the  \vest(;rn  limiis  of  Louisiana,  (j).  60,)  he 
says,  —  "'I'liere  was  no  strip  of  land  to  the  west,  helon^nii<r  to  Franc(>,  us 
nieniioned  in  the  treaty  o(  INOIJ,  '  iyini,'  !Ktwce;i  tin;  territcjry  claimed  by 
Cireat  Uritain  on  the  one  side,  and  Spain  on  tiie  other.''"  —  and  (pa<re  fil,) 
when  cornparin<i  the  provisions  of  the  latter  treaty  with  tin  se  of  the  Flor- 
ida treaty,  he  remarks  —  "The  treaty  with  h" ranee,  in  JM)H,  professed  to 
give  'a  line'  across  some  country  lying  between  the  t(;rri;ory  claimed 
by  Spain  and  (Ireat  Hritain." 

It  is  needless  to  say,  to  any  one  acquainted  with  the  history  of  the 
trnnsfcr  of  Louisiana,  by  France  to  the  United  States,  that  the  treaty  by 
which  that  cession  was  ellected,  contains  no  oilier  words  respecting  the 
limits  of  the  country  ceded,  than  those  extracted  from  the  treaiv  of  INOO, 
whereby  1*' ranee  obtained  Louisiana  from  Spain,  —  viz.:  "the  colony  or 
province  of  Louisiana,  with  the  same  exterit  that  it  now  has  in  the  hands 
of  Spain,  and  that  it  had  when  h' ranee  possessed  it;  and  such  as  it  should 
be,  after  the  treaties  subsequently  entered  into  between  Spain  and  other 
states;"  and  that  no  other  description  of  Ixumdarics  could  ever  he  ob- 
tained from  the  h'reiKdi  goverinnent.  Mr.  Falconer  quoted  these  words 
himself;  but  it  is  most  charitable  to  suppose  that  he  never  saw  the  treaty, 
as  he  nnist  otherwise  stand  ami^nahle  to  the  chariie  of  having  falsely 
brought  forwaril  the  ])assa<:e  forming  the  subject  of  these  remarks,  as  one 
of  its  stipulations,  with  the  obiect  eC  defaming  the  American  government. 

Mr.  Falconer  next  presents  a  review  of  the  accoimts  in  my  history,  of 
the  discoveries  of  the  Spaniarils,  oi'  Cook,  and  of  the  fur  trac'ers,  as  also 
of  the  preleiided  Mritish  settlement  at  Nootka  Sound,  of  which  !.(!  says, 
"the  personal  liicts  of  the  case  are  not  of  the  slightest  imp(/rtai;ce;" 
tliough  upon  those  facts  rests  th(>  whole  quesli(ju  as  to  llu;  su|)(  riority 
of  the  Spanish,  or  of  th<'  British  claim  to  the  territory  about  Nootka. 
lie  then  enters  upon  the  examination  oi'the  rights  derived  from  discovery 
and  occupation  ot'  a  country,  and  (pioles  a  larife  portion  ol'  the  ohscu'va- 
tions,  in  pages  1N7  to  INJ)  ot'  my  history,  omittinir,  however,  some  which 
have  an  imporlaut  'xMring  on  the  subject.  Here  be  contends  that  "a  set- 
tlement nuist  he  understood  to  mean  thi'  estahllshment  of  the  laws  or 
government  of  the  persons  making  the  settlement,  with  the  consent  and 
authority  of  the  nation  to  which  they  lieloiiij: ;"'  that,  "discoveries  actually 
aGCompatu\'<l  b\'  occupalitju,  without  such  consent,  do  not  entitle  the 
settlers  to  anv  of  tin?  rights  of  their  owi;  governuieut,  or  to  exercise  any 
power,  (neii  of  the  most  inferior  description,  under  liie  pretcMice  ol'  being 
a  coloiiv  ;"  and  that,  "  taking  possession," — that  is  to  say,  the  dceiaratioii 
of  the  rii^ht  of  a  soven.'ign,  <jr  state,  by  oik;  of  its  olliecn's,  to  the  pos- 
session oi'ati  uuoccupieil  country,  which  lie  may  touch,  "  is  the  exercise  of 
a  sovereign  powt-r,  a  distinct  act  of  legislation,  by  wliiidt  the  new  territory 
becomes  annexed  to  the  dominions  of  the  crown."  Ipon  these  gniinds 
he  regards  the  riiiht  of  LJreat  Britain  to  the  north-west  coasts  of  America, 
as  paramount  ;  forgtMting,  or  concealing  the  facts,  that  Spanish  oiriccrshad 
laiuied  on  tdl  those  coasts,  and  on  each  occasion  ha  I  most  furmally 
taken  possession,  in  the  name  of  their  monarch,  and  had   m.u'e  a  settle- 


4  ANSWER. 

meiit  by  tlircct  and  s|u'cial  orders,  from  tlieir  i»ovcrnmont,  Ijcforc  any 
attcMipIs  fur  tilt"  same  piirjiosc  liad  hccn  made  tliorc  hy  tlic  pcoiih;  of  any 
oilier  niition  ;  and  that  no  authority  on  tlie  part  of  tlio  British  jiovonunent 
was  aUejfed  by  tlie  cl.imants  of  XootUa  Sound,  wliose  cause  was  sup- 
ported by  thai  i)o\ver  in  HiU),  at  tli(!  risk  of  a  war  with  Spain.  Kcpially 
careful  is  Mr.  Falconer,  to  omit  all  the  material  arirunients  adduced  by 
me,  with  regard  —  to  t.ie  controversy  between  Vancouverami  the  Spanish 
Commissioner  at  Xootka,  in  17!):2  —  to  the  e.vaminatiuns  of  the  Colund)ia 
and  the  adjacent  coasts,  by  CJray,  and  by  the  British  navigators  —  to  the 
American  settlements  on  the;  Columbiii.  and  —  to  the  pretended  reservation 
of  riiilit  by  the  British  uovernment,  on  restoring  those  settlements  in  1815. 
On  all  these  points  1  have  nothing  to  change  in  the  accounts  presented  in 
my  history.  Mr.  Falconer's  not(>  on  his  |iage  OM,  so  far  as  I  can  unravel 
its  meaning,  for  it  is  reiulereil  somewhat  doui»tful  l>y  omissions,  is  as 
direct  and  positive  misrepresentation  of  my  views,  as  expressed  in  page 
281  of  the  history  to  which  it  refers. 

At  page  S."),  Mr.  Falcone'' writes :  "On  the  iiorih  and  north-western 
boundary  of  tiie  United  States,  'Louisiana,  it  is  said,  stretcln'd  from  the 
(iulf  id' Mexico,  to  the  iiorlhward  and  north-weslwanl,  to  an  undefmed  ex- 
tent.' (Oreenhow,  |).  •■HG.)  It  van  be  most  distinctly  demonstrated,  that 
tiiero  is  not  the  slightest  foundation  for  this  statement." 

Now  in  the  first  place  Mr.  Falconer  has  entirely  mis(|uoted  my  expros- 
sions.  Specially  reterring  to  the  state  of  things  at  the  commencement  of 
this  century,  I  say  *■' tlic  territories  of  the  Inited  States  were  at  that  time, 
all  included  between  tlie  Atlantic  Ocean  on  the  east,  and  the  Mississippi 
river  on  liie  west.  In  the  north  were  the  British  Provinces;  in  the  wv.sl 
lay  Florida  belonging  to  Spain  ;  ;ind  beyond  the  Mississippi  the  Spaniards 
claimed  the  vast  rrgioii,  called  Louisi.'uia,  stretciiing  from  the  ( !ulf  of  Mex- 
ico, nortliward  ;uid  north-westward  to  ;in  uiuli'lined  extent.''  These 
observations,  I  reueat,  refer  only  to  the  state  of  things  in  IH(H),  when 
Louisi;uia  embraced  no  territory  east  of  the  Mississippi,  except  New 
Orleans  and  its  vicinity  ;  and  nothing  which  I  have  seen  has  induced  nie 
to  doubt  their  entire  accuracy. 

His  conclusions  on  the  subject  are  thus  summed  up  in  page  87  :  "  First 
then,  as  a  sid)ordiiiati'  province  partly  fornK.'d  out  of  I'anada,  Louisiana 
extend('<l  no  farther  than  tlu'  distinct  boundaries  <d'  it  conld  he  shown; 
secondly,  it  never  extemled  further  iKjrth  than  thi;  Illinois  river ;  thirdly, 
the  i|uestion  of  the  e.Ment  of  Louisiana  was  argued  at  the  peace  of  Hd'J; 
fourthly,  ("anada  in  its  full  extent  was  ceded  to  (ireat  Britain  ;nnd,  lastly, 
the  olVicial  map  used  by  France  in  its  neiroliations  with  (Ireat  Britain,  in- 
conteslabiy  pnjvcs,  that  the  country  north  ami  north-ucst  of  the  Mississip- 
pi was  ceded  as  the  Province  <if  C-'anada.  No  better  authority  for  the 
above  statement  t;an  be  citrd,  than  M.  Dullot  de  M(d'ras,  a  gentleman  at- 
taciied  to  the  l'"rench  legation  at  Mexico,  and  the  author  of  a  work  on 
California,  |»ublished  by  order  of  the  French  Government  —  to  avoid 
the  possibility  of  misinterpretation,  his  own  words  cited." 

•  )f  tlicsn  conclusions  it  will  be  necessary  to  examine  only  the  last,  to 
which  the  others  are  subordinate  ;  it  is  thus  fartiicr  explained  by  Mr.  Fal- 
(•(puer.  '"  P)y  the  seventh  article  of  this  cession"  [the  treaty  of  17(!!{  be- 
tween I'r.ince  and  Oreal  Biitainj  "  the  line  drawn  from  the  source  of  the 


r 


I 


ANSWER.  5 

River  Mississippi,  to  the  south,  gave  to(Jreat  Britain  all  the  lands  on  the 
east  hniik  ufthe  river,  and  secured  to  France  and  throufih  it  to  S|)ain,  tlic 
territory  west  of  the  same  line.  But  the  territory  of  Canada  north  of  the 
source  of  that  river,  (17"'  10  N.  L.)  and  north  of  a  line,  running  west  of 
the  source  of  the  river,  was  left  as  a  part  of  Canada,  of  which  it  most  iii- 
disputahly  t'ormed  a  portion." 

.\Ir.  ["'aiconer  here  |)laces  his  meaning  heyond  que.ftion.  Has  he  ever 
read  the  charter  of  the  Hudson's  liay  C'ompany  ?  Certainly  not,  or  ho 
would  never  have  made  this  assorticjn.  That  charter  was  granted  hy  King 
Charles  tli('  Second  in  l(iti!t  ;  it  conveys  to  the  Hudson's  hay  Company 
in  full  |)ossession,  and  almost  in  sovereicnty,  "all  those  seas,  straits,  and 
hays,  rivers,  lakes,  creeks  ami  sounds,  in  whatsoever  latitude  they  shall  he, 
that  lie  within  the  entrane(!  of  the  Straits,  connuonly  called  Hudson's 
Straits,  together  with  all  the  lands,  countries,  and  territories,  upon  the 
coast  and  confmes  of  the  seas,  straits,  hays,  lakes,  rivers,  creeks,  ami 
sounds  aforesaid,  which  are  not  actually  jjossessed  hy  any  ol  our  suhjects, 
or  hy  the  suhjects  of  an)  other  Christian  prince  or  state."  The  right 
to  these  waters  and  territories  was  maintained  hy  (Ireat  I'ritain  in  her 
wars  with  France,  and  was  contirnied  in  the  treaty  of  rtrecht,and  in  all  sub- 
se([uent  treaties  helween  those  powers  relative  to  territories  in  America  so 
long  as  Franci;  held  any  possessions  on  the  northern  continent.  The  ter- 
ritories thus  granted  to  the  Hudson's  IJay  Company  extend  west  of  the 
.Mississi|)pi,  and  sotuh  of  tin;  latitude  of  the  sources  of  th.at  river,  and  they 
were  always  claimed  and  used  hy  that  hody  imtil  iNlN,  when  the  4!)th 
parallel  of  latitudi;  was  adopted  hy  convention  hetween  (!reat  liritain  and 
the  United  States,  as  the  dividinij  line  hetween  tlieir  possessions  in  that 
part  of  America.  Until  the  conclusion  of  that  convention,  the  nothern 
houmlaries  of  Louisiana  remained  itmhliiird  —  that  is,  undetermined  hy  ac- 
cord of  the  parties  interested,  as  I  prove  clearly  in  my  paijes  XJNl  and   UK). 

Will  Mr.  Falconer  now  maintain  that  the  t(M'ritories,  thus  irranteil  to 
the  Hudson's  Hay  Comi)any  in  l(i(i}),  most  indis|)utal)ly  form<'d  a  portion 
of  Canada,  and  therefore  lieloniied  to  France  uiuil  HtW  r  If  not,  his  whole 
theory  as  to  the  western  extension  of  Canada  falls  to  the  groiuid.  Does 
he  not  see,  moreover,  that  if  his  argument  he  admit:od,  hy  the  same  rule 
Louisiana  must  also  necessarily  have  extended  to  the  I'acific,  emhracing 
the  whole  lower  portion  and  the  mouth  of  the  Columhia,  which  his  govern- 
ment is  now  so  anxious  to  secure  ? 

What  "•  //(('  (i/firial  map  used  by  Francr,  in  its  7i('<;(iti(tli()ns  u'ith  Great 
Britain^'''  was,  wo  are  to  learn  from  M.  Duilot  de  ^hJfras.  (,)n  referring 
to  the  (juotation  from  that  author,  we  see,  fu'st  that,  "  All  the  old  7iiap;i, 
in  fact,  in  accordance  with  the  authors  most  w^orthy  of  credit,  carry  the 
limits  of  the  French  |)()ssessions  of  Canada  to  the  South  Sea."* 

It  is  needless  to  wasli;  time  on  such  an  assertion  ;  the  erroncousness  of 
wliich,  is  shown  hy  every  old  atlas.  The  "  aiillior  vwst  irorttiii  of  rrrf/fV," 
cited  hy  M.  de  Mofras,  is  J/Kscarhot,  in  whose  history  of  New  France, 
printed  in  10 17,  after  the  settlement  of  Florida,  New  Mexico,  Virginia 
and  the  New  Netherlands,  the  whole    of  the  American  continent  and 

*"  Tollies  Irs  niiciouiff  lartrK.  en  cllct  (racconl  iivi'c  U's  iiiUinir;  Ic-s  \i\nfi  nvcrus 
li'i'irrcti'Ut  (iii';i  la  iiirr  dii  Sud,  In  liinitciios  possi-ssioii  Fr:inc:iitii'S  iln  Cuiirnhi."' 


fi 


ANSWER. 


islnnds  north  of  the  Tropic  of  Cancer,  is  claiincd  ns  New  Frnnce.  M.  do 
Mofras  continues  :  "  Finally  in  a  map,  (Mii;rave(l  in  17,')?,  and  annexed  to 
the  Memoirs  of  tlio  Commissaries  of  the  Ivin<,'s  of  France  and  Fint,'land  in 
America,  it  may  he  sct-n  heyund  dunht  that  New  France  extended  to  tho 
Pacific  ;  and  on  it  will  he  found  on  the  west  coast  of  America,  under  lljo 
•l(!th  decree  of  latitude,  a  jireat  river  traceil  in  a  (hrcction  exactly  conformu- 
hie  with  that  of  the  river  Colunihia."* 

'J"he  work  last  cited,  is  a  collection  of  statements,  presented  respect- 
ively hy  the  Commissaries  of  France  and  Kiijiland,  appointed  under  the 
treaty  of  Aix  la  Chapellt!  in  17  IS,  to  settle  the  limits  of  certain  territories 
in  America.  It  is  well  known,  antl  may  he  found  in  all  larije  lihraries. 
There  are  not  less  than  four  co|)ies  of  it  in  Washington.  If  Air.  Falconer 
will  take  tlie  trouhle  to  examine  it,  he  will  lind  the  map  in  tho  fourth  vol- 
ume, as  specially  stated  hy  M.  dc  Mofras,  heinjj;  indeed  the  only  one  in 
the  colleetioti,  emhracinij  the  western  part  of  America  ;  hut  he  will  as- 
suredly not  fhid  on  it  ain/  I'ircr  nilrriii^  llif  Pacijic  from  the  interior  of 
Aiiierira,  near  the  4(i//(  decree  of  lulilmlr,  nor  any  river  reannhling  the 
Columbia^  nor  (unj  allusion  to  Conwla  or  New  France,  nor  any  sign 
whalsoerer  of  the  exialenre  of  French  iloviinion  in  America,  'i'he  map 
was  in  fact,  drawn  and  presented  hy  the  French  Commissaries,  as 
its  title  purports,  with  the  ohjcct  of  exposing  the  extravagant  preten- 
sions of  the  IJritish  in  America  ;  and  iIk;  whoh,'  division  of  the  con- 
tinent from  sea  to  s(  a,  hetween  the  lOth  ;inil  the  INth  j)arallels  of  latitude,  in- 
cludin<r,  of  coiu'se,  nearly  all  Canada,  appears  on  it  as  JS'ew  Knirland. 
Yet  this  map  Mr.  Falconer  presents  as  "  the  ojjicial  map  used  hi/  ['ranee,  in 
its  iie>;olitilion:<  with  (ircal  Britain,''^  (mistakui^f, as  the  context  a!)undantly 
siiow«  the  Clommissaries  appointed  under  the  treaty  of  Aix  la  Chapellc, 
f  rieiiipotentiaries  who  sii^ned  the  treaty  of  Paris  :)  and  as  incontes- 

ta  ovini;  "  thai  the  coiinlri/  north  and  north-west  of  the  Mississippi^ 

1     i    ..led  as  the  proeinee  of  Canada.'''' 

The  quotations  from  M.  DuUot  de  Mofras,  are  made  from  some  articles 
by  him  on  ( )re!jon,  wliicli  appeared  in  the  Paris  .lournal  des  1  )ehats.  This 
gentleman  lias  since  puhlished,  und(  r  the  auspiees  of  the  French  govern- 
ment, a  work  on  t^reiion  and  California,  professinir  to  lu;  ttie  results  of 
personal  examination  of  those  countrit  s,  and  of  subse(juciit  laliors  and  re- 
searclies  ;  i)iit  in  reality  containing  little  else  than  extracts  from  my  his- 
torj',  with  alterations  to  suit  the  views  of  the  author.  The  conclusions  of 
M.  de  Mofras  are — that  Canada  certainly  extended  to  the  Pacific  —  that 
the  Canadians  are  now  as  yood  FVenchmcn  as  in  the  da\s  of  Beauharnais 
—  that  they  will  soon  throw  olf  the  defesfed  yokeof  (Ireat  Britain,  and 
will  then  forma  grand  Franco  Canadian  Hmpire,  extending  from  the  At- 
lantic to  the  Pacific,  and  emhracing  Oregon,  which  will  be  bound  to 
France  by  every  tie  of  religion,  feeling  and  policv. 

It  will  be  uniiecessury  to  pursue  farther,  the  evidence  of  Mr.  F^alconer's 


""Enfin,  'l;uis  nnc  ciirtp  },'rav^'e  en  1757,  at  nmipxec  mix  Menioirps  dos  Commis- 
sniri'S  des  Rois  kV'  Fiaiice  et  d'Anj-lt'tcrrc  en  Aiiu'riqiU',  en  pout  coristiitcr,  que  Id 
Novcllc  Fruiii'L'  s'lti'iulait  iusqiii-  a  l;i  nicr  Piiciliqiu'  ;  et  I'dii  y  tronvc,  ii  hi  cote 
oucst  (If  rAmr'rii|ii(',  sous  le  .1(1'' ilfirii',  unc  i;ran(l  riviert-,  truefL'  (l.iiis  iiiu-  <Iiri'('tion 
t'xactiuicnt  coul'urnii'  ii  cillt;  du  Rio  Coluuiijia." 


\ 


■} 


I 

I 


ANSWER.  7 

incompetency  to  treat  the  important  matters  to  which  he  has  devoted  his 
nttentioii  in  this  vohimc  ;  or  to  expose  liis  mistakes,  misciuotations,  and  mis- 
representations  of  iill  kinds.  In  his  conchiding  page,  he  declares  that"  It 
is  nut  hunorahle,  while  the  title  to  the  territory  of  Oregon  is  undetermined 
between  the  respective  governments,  to  urge  measures  lo  pojnilate  it  with 
American  citizens,  in  order  to  give  facilities  for  its  occu[)ation  at  a  future 
period."  ( >u  this  point,  I  will  simply  refer  him  to  the  letters  addressed  hy 
Messrs.  Pelly  and  Simpson,  tl>e  governors  of  the  Hudson's  IJay  Company, 
to  the  Colniiiul  Department,  in  IKH,  soliciting  a  renewal  of  their  charter, 
as  puMished  hy  order  of  parliament  in  IHIO,  where  he  will  find,  that  those 
pentliMnen  claimed  and  received  the  aid  and  consideration  of  i^ovvrnment 
for  their  encn;!/  and  success  in  ejiiellimr  the  Americans  from  the  Colum- 
bia reiiions^  and  J'crming  silt/cmeuts  there,  by  means  of  lohich  they  ivere 
rapidly  converlinir  Oregon  into  a  British  colony.  Since  that  period 
things  liave  changed  ;  and  nothing  hut  prudence  is  required,  on  the  i)art  of 
the  American  government,  to  convert  OreTOU,  ere  long,  into  a  State  of  the 
Federal  Union. 

ROBERT  GREENHOVV. 
Washington,  April,  1845. 


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